@dbb I'm absolutely shocked!
On to my initial observations. I'll attempt to temper my words regards this dac, but then I can't help myself, This dac lives in an entirely different realm from both 005 and Laiv Harmony! The initial thing that sets this dac apart from those is the resolving ability, even upon first few minutes of warm up, system at background level volume, no critical listening mode I heard special things going on. So, system warmed up, critical listening begins. This thing provides detail, low level information like I've never heard before. Performers way down in mix now heard, individual performers in dense and complex passages far more resolved. And the manner in which this greater level of detail is presented is holistic in the sense it all coheres to the whole. None of this spotlit unless you choose to direct your attention to it, which I admit is somewhat difficult as early on its something of a novelty. Once you get past the novelty and direct your attention to the whole it all becomes very natural, which means I always got into that sheer musical enjoyment state of mind, away from the analytical state. I should also add sense of performers in unique recording venues far more easily heard, this added to sense of realism with 006!
Now, allied to resolution, sound staging and imaging. Always thought 005 pretty nice here, exception being depth in center image. Laiv easily surpassed 005, much better layering here. 006 at least matched this layering effect, and improved on both 005 and Laiv on horizontal and height axis. Images also more dimensional and stable on that sound stage, Finally, individualization of images much greater with 006, especially with complex passages with large numbers of performers, really special here! All in all, great performance and presented in a naturalistic manner.
Transparency rides along in lock step with this higher resolution, sense of performers in room heightened from what I've long considered to be a strength of my system.
Now we come to the two areas I had the most concern with coming into this initial listening session, tonality which I always interpret as tonal balance, the other is timbre. Tonal balance pretty much spot on, nearly exact to 005. My system has long been tuned to tonality of 005, the only change I made throughout listening session was a single notch down on output on my Rel subs. What this tonal balance means is no frequency or frequencies draw attention to themselves, bass, mids and highs all in perfect harmony in my system. Laiv overemphasizes bass in my setup, no doubt I can easily bring into proper perspective with small changes. Next we come to timbre, with this being the most surprising aspect of 006. I was expecting something along lines of 005, or perhaps even more problematic considering @dbb issues. This turned out to be quite the opposite in my case. I long considered 005 a neutral device in regard to timbre, in other words just close enough to natural to make it an enjoyable listen. The Laiv in NOS mode surpasses 005 here, 006 surprisingly surpasses Laiv. At this point I consider 006 rather rich on the scale of timbre, I'd now rate 005 as analytical in context of Laiv and 006. Such natural timbre makes long listening sessions enjoyable, no fatigue. I can even judge this dac as forgiving at this point, can't imagine timbre being an issue in any system. To put my judgement of timbre into context, vinyl has long been and continues to be my gold standard for timbre, 006 very nice!
Dynamics, both micro and macro very nice, micro seemingly expanding throughout listening session, a bit up tight at first. Expect this to loosen up over time.
Believe that's everything for now, To reiterate, for me 006 is my new reference, don't understand dbb's issues, based on my impressions I'd expect 006 to work in a wide variety of systems, there is absolutely nothing that needs to be masked or hidden! For me, this level of performance invites a comparison to much more expensive dacs, Mola Mola Tambaqui based on my impressions of dacs would be the next most natural competitor. Some claim its excessively analytical, at this point in my dac exploration I'm going to assume those people making that claim either have issues somewhere else in system or they simply don't like a high resolution dac. I can understand the allure of a R2R dac like the Laiv, very musical, holistic, resolving enough to bring high involvement. Sometimes in listening to 006 it occurred to me how relaxing the Laiv was in comparison to the 006, 006 a spectacular listen, DEMANDS your involvement, Laiv lets you choose.
@dbb Your should reconsider the selling of 006, can't imagine you can't resolve issues. On the other hand, I can understand 006 perhaps not for you, the issue of equipment that demands your attention is why other presentations exist. I'd only suggest if dbb insists on selling, someone should purchase immediately!